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Join Verint's Mike Biros, Vice President, Sales, and David Moody, General Manager, Engagement Management Professional, at noon ET as they discuss "Digital Transformation in the Era of COVID-19." The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of government and impacted the way services are delivered to citizens. However, despite this transformation, the citizen experience must remain a central consideration and help ensure that digital channels deliver at least the same level of service as would be delivered in person. In this session, learn about best practices for digital transformation that will allow your citizens to receive a consistent, positive experience--no matter how they communicate with you. What are the most valuable contact center innovations so far in 2020?

It's hard to imagine now, but a decade ago, open-source software--programs that allow users to modify the source code--was still on the fringes. Startups were starting to build on open source and open core, but few, if any, enterprises were. Looking back, we can now say that open-source models undoubtedly accelerated both the pace of innovation and the quality of traditional software development. Nowadays, most anyone who is trying to build a successful SaaS product typically leverages as much open-source code as possible. Given their success building open-source SaaS solutions, it makes sense that many enterprises would strongly consider building out their AI capabilities in house.

Israel today is one of the most technologically-forward countries. Over the years the nation has not only strengthened its cybersecurity and other tech arms but also its data science domain. If you are planning to bet big by taking your data science journey outside India, then you should definitely take a look at these jobs. Part of Booking Holdings Inc., Booking.com is one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. The company is currently hiring a data scientist for machine learning to join the company's Tel Aviv machine learning centre.

This article was originally published in the Autumn 2019 issue of The Record. Subscribe for FREE here to get the next issues delivered directly to your inbox. How are insurance firms using the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand customers' needs and create personalised experiences? Amy Stokes-Waters, new business sales executive, Identity Experts: People love to be independent and are increasingly turning to mobile apps for self-service across a range of products, insurance being no exception. Insurance firms are having to invest heavily in cloud technologies to keep up with consumer want for on-demand information and simplified communications in our mobile-first society.

Conversations about workforce optimization (WFO) have heated up in the past couple of months. Following several passionate discussions about its future – as the transition to the cloud accelerates – I was inspired to write about the category and its evolution. My first surprise was the broad range of definitions for WFO. I was struck by the number of people equating the three-letter acronym to recording and quality management (QM). Industry analysts concur on a much broader definition including workforce management (WFM), performance management (PM), and more advanced applications like speech, interaction analytics, and gamification.

Artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives come as businesses enthusiasm for the technology grows, and AI initiatives go as the excitement fades in the face of false starts and little proof of value. It doesn't have to be that way. Early AI adopters are actually ramping up their AI investments and launching more projects -- and getting positive returns for their work, too. Multiple organizations have gained a financial return from their AI investments. At the same time, some industries are lagging.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global AI (artificial intelligence) market in 2018 was $21 billion. It's expected to grow 33% annually between 2019 and 2026 to $203 billion. The companies that are using the technology to grow are the stocks you want to own in the future. These stocks to buy are companies that participate in some of the areas seeing an increase in demand for AI. Areas that include: 5G technology, connected devices, cloud-based services and applications, autonomous driving, machine learning, fintech, etc.

Digital assistants have become a major trend in government at every level and across geographies, and could soon be a mainstay in many state and federal agencies in the U.S. Recent favorable signs include an executive order launching the American AI Initiative and the Health and Human Services Department awarding 57 spots on its Intelligent Automation/Artificial Intelligence (AI) contract, according to natural language processing (NLP) expert William Meisel, president of TMA Associates. Speaking at the AI World Government conference, held last month in Washington, D.C., Meisel says digital assistants (aka "intelligent" or "virtual" assistants) are among the most developed and least risky ways to implement AI--and "the closest to what we see in sci-fi." Digital assistants are broadly applicable across departments and agencies looking to cut costs and boost human productivity and have a minimum probability of failure and unintended consequences. For a citizenry looking for answers, they're also a "nice alternative to automated systems and long hold times," he adds. Juniper Research reports that, by 2023, one-quarter of the populace will be using digital voice assistants daily, says Meisel.

With its acquisition of Next IT, Verint signals that Intelligent Assistance technologies most definitely fit into the customer care mainstream. Next IT, a Spokane-based company, was founded in 2002 and was, until yesterday, one of a small cadre IA "pure plays," providing hardware, software and services that enable brands to build enterprise-grade, conversational virtual agents and digital assistants. Among its showcase icons are SGT STAR (for the U.S. Army) and Jenn for Alaska Airlines and dozens of others. The purchase price starts at $30 million in cash at the time of completion, with performance-based additions that could make the total value of the deal $51 million, according to a report in Newsday. From Opus Research's perspective, the transaction is a "win-win" for both firms.